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UW Sings

Friday, November 22, 2024 - 7:30pm
$10 all tickets. Tickets on sale Sept. 10.
University singers in rehearsal (Photo: Madelyn Harris).
University singers in rehearsal (Photo: Madelyn Harris).

The University Singers, Treble Choir, and UW Glee Club present an eclectic program of music from around the world, folk tunes, and arrangements of popular music standards.


Program

 GLEE 

Directed By: 
David Ferguson - DMA Student 
Adam Freemantle- MM Student 
Egija Claire - MM Student 
Collaborative Pianist - Steve Swanson 

Santiana 
Sea Shanty, arranged by Sean Barnette 

Rīta un vakara dziesma (Morning and Evening Song) 
Music: Raimonds Tiguls 
Poetry: Rasa Bugavičute-Pēce 

Prairie Spring 
Music: Isaac Lovdahl 
Text: Willa Cather 

Stand Up (from Harriet: The Musical) 
Music and Lyrics by Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell 

UNIVERSITY SINGERS 

Directed by: 
Michael McKenzie - DMA Student 
Alexandra Rameau - MM Student 
Collaborative Pianist - Steve Swanson 

Lumen 
Music: Abbie Betinis 

Heart of Stone 
Words and Music: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, arr. Andy Beck 

Chasing Visions 
Words and Music: Don Macdonald 

Glory Bound 
Words and Music: Ruth Moody, ad. Michael McKenzie 

TREBLE CHOIR 

Directed by: 
Helen Woodruff - MM Student 
Heidi Blythe - DMA Student 
Collaborative Pianist, Steve Swanson 

Song of Miriam 
Elaine Hagenberg 

Landslide 
Stevie Nicks, arr. Mary Anne Muglia 

Light of a Clear Blue Morning 
Dolly Parton, arr. Craig Hella Johnson 

Soloist: Mari Hirayama 
Trio: Helen Chen, Sydney Jordan, LJ LeBlanc 
Instrumentalist: Ling Yang 

Hope is a Thing With Feathers 
Emma Lou Diemer 


COMBINED CHOIRS 

Journey On 
Words and Lyrics by Derrick Fox 

GLEE 

Ezra Acevedo 
Chow Alvarado 
Alex Beck 
Sarah Carpenter 
Hannah Carpenter 
Andrea Chen 
Egija Claire 
Mario D'Ambrosio 
Nicolo Dolge 
Zilin Fang 
David Ferguson 
Adam Freemantle 
Jonas Golm 
Gabe Harlev 
Jack Hawley 
Aiden Hochstatter 
Paul Johns 
Yuna Kawashima 
Joshua Kingsley 
Jack Li 
Elijah Marucheck 
Pasquale Masuccio 
Avi Mittal 
Hunter Parker 
Pascale Yong Sarguna Packia Raj 
Maral Saikhanaa 
Hao Shen 
Cole Siegrist 
Carmela Stewart 
Kate Taricani 
Josiah Thulin 
Caleb Tobing 
Danny Vizenor 
Thomas Wardian 
Jenson Zhang 

UNIVERSITY SINGERS 

Aiden Clegg 
Aislinn Radek 
Ana Maria Cunningham 
Belle Pearson 
Brooklynn Ginsburg 
Camryn Smith 
Chloe Chai 
Coleman Brenner 
Diya Nahar 
Don Percival 
Elijah Graham 
Felix Solem 
Gabe Harlev 
Grace Curry 
Irene Cai 
Johnny Nguyen 
Josie Augustavo 
Julian Zhang 
Katie Davis 
Ken Kanadi 
Kristen Li 
Kyle Grant 
Lexie Payton 
Li-Neishin Co 
Lilah Johnson 
Lyric Hawk 
Madelyn Price 
Madi Winegrad 
Mari Hirayama 
Marissa Romeo 
Minh Nguyen 
Noah Berhan 
Pragnya Gudipati 
Rain Anderson 
Riley Gudgel 
Samantha Corcoran 
Samantha Grover 
Samuel Terk 
Sophie Mansour 
Vincent Bailon 

TREBLE CHOIR 

Haruka Abe 
Hope Ambachew 
Maggie Anderson 
Ava Babcock 
Aradhana Babu 
Leah Barracoso 
Freya Bennett 
Emily Marie Blake 
Lucy Brandt 
Taylor Nicole Burbacher 
Emily Cady 
Olivia Cady 
Chrisina Cai 
Isamar Chavez 
Helen Chen 
Isabella Jin Chen 
Karen Chen 
Tsz Wai Chen 
Hannah Cheng 
Ella Collins 
Kirsten Conover 
JJ DeNunzio 
Kay Eastwood 
Olivia Flesher 
Julia Fraczek 
Zanne Gerrard 
Berlin Aariana Gharst 
Amy Gretch 
Abigail Michaela Grove 
Samantha Oledan Grover 
Gail Guisinger 
Simran Gupta 
Emma Guyon 
Ava Herman 
Rebecca Himeda 
Mari Hirayama 
Sammi Huang 
Stella Hudson 
Abby Hussein 
Takoda Jessen 
Sydney Jordan 
Grace Catherine Kamila 
Yuna Kawashima 
Christina Kim 
Alex Kittnar 
Nishtha Kumar 
Alex Lardent 
Cadence Lay 
LJ LeBlanc 
Chloe Lian 
Christine Lin 
MaryGrace Linsley 
Miklayne Lowe 
Emily Ma 
Estella Marchand 
Ana Marriott 
Annabelle Carlota Marin 
Isadora Miller 
Tatiana Monserrat
Miranda Benavides 
Catinca Mosley 
Debora Mugisha 
Rebecca Kathleen Munk 
Alinah Nepean 
Delaney Orzol 
Camille Ott 
Ava Pakzad Sedigh 
Grace Pardini 
Vienne M Peterson 
Emily Ann Pinneo 
Esther S Prabahkar 
Maddie Pryde 
Vydhourie R T Thiyageswaran 
Mia Rapp 
Emma Reed 
Alexandria Maria Retteghieri 
Lola Rogin 
Megan E Romesberg 
Ofelia M Sanchez 
Sarah Katherine Schafer 
Malia Dawn Schomaker 
Marina Rae Sellers 
Audrey Simonnet 
Andal Rajalakshmi Sridhar 
Madeline Stroup 
Kate Taricani 
Gauri Thaliyil 
Aliya Thompson 
Alex Trias 
Charlene Valerio 
Aria Wang 
Adrienne Wegerer 
Talina White 
Ava Wilhite 
Taryn Elizabeth Wilhite 
Ling Yang  

Conductor Biographies

Heidi Blythe, Choral Conducting

Heidi Blythe (she/they) has sung professionally with the Byrd Ensemble, Radiance, SoundCity Singers, and the St. James Cathedral Cantorei. Heidi appeared as alto soloist for Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, and Considering Matthew Shepard.

An experienced choral director, Heidi is the assistant conductor of Seattle Pro Musica, a nationally recognized ensemble which won the Margaret Hillis award for Choral Excellence and the ASCAP Choral Award for Adventurous Programming. Heidi currently works with SPM's Chroma and Orpheon ensembles. She recently directed the Fauré Requiem for the Music Guild at St. Thomas Episcopal Church with soloists Charles Robert Stephens and Natalie Ingrisano.

Heidi spent thirteen years as the Director of Music at University Congregational United Church of Christ, leading a music program that encompassed seven ensembles and as many as 180 participants a year. A passionate advocate of congregational music-making, Heidi presented a workshop on multi-generational music at the national convention of the United Church of Christ Musicians Association. She twice served as music director for the Pacific Northwest Conference of the UCC.

Heidi provided rehearsal direction for the Seattle Symphony Chorale at the behest of associate conductor Christian Knapp. She was the Gregg Smith Singers’ first choral fellow at the Adirondack Festival of American music, singing with the ensemble under Gregg’s direction, as well as that of Margaret Hillis, Vance George, and Dave Brubeck. She was a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, working on a joint project on American musicals with the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of American History.

Heidi received a Masters in Choral Music Education from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance, where she studied voice with John Gillas and John Charles Pierce, and studied conducting with Sandra Snow and Jerry Blackstone. She was the recipient of the Margaret V. Hood prize and appeared on the Classical GRAMMY-winning album “Songs of Innocence and Experience”. While at Smith College, she studied voice with Jane Bryden and organ with Grant Moss, and was the recipient of the Harriet Dey Barnum and Sarah H. Hamilton prizes in music, and the Imogene Mahony Memorial and Constance Kambour Edwards prizes for organ. 

Heidi lives in Seattle with her spouse, Owen, and her children, Felix and Oscar. 

Photo credit: Danielle Barnum Photography

Egija Ungure

Egija Claire (she/her) is an international conductor from Latvia, and she is known for her passion for uniting people through music. Egija is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington. Known for her strong leadership skills and talent for organizing large-scale events, Egija has worked with ensembles across continents, blending cultural traditions and musical excellence. Her most memorable experience was conducting a choir of over 1,000 singers at Toronto’s renowned Roy Thomson Hall during the Latvian Song and Dance Festival.

Egija’s career highlights her expertise in both choral and orchestral settings. Her extensive training and performance experience, including organizing tours and festivals, reflect her dedication to creating meaningful musical experiences. With a background rooted in the rich choral traditions of Latvia and honed by international collaborations, she excels in bringing communities together through the power of music. Egija is committed to fostering connection, artistic excellence, and cultural exchange in every project she leads.

Adam Freemantle

Adam Freemantle (he/him/his) is a graduate student of choral conducting at the University of Washington. Born and raised in the Seattle area, Adam attended Shorewood High School in Shoreline, WA where he spent the majority of his time involved with the performing arts including choir, band and theater. He then completed his undergraduate studies at Western Washington University where he graduated Magna cum laude in Music Education and Vocal Performance. After student teaching with Justin Wisness at Rogers High School, he taught choir at Maple View Middle School in the Tahoma School District.

Currently, Adam currently co-directs the UW Glee Club and sings in Chamber Singers, Recital Choir, and Cohort Ensemble. Outside of his work at UW, Adam also directs the Youth and Children's choirs at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church and is an assistant football coach at Tahoma High School (Go Bears). 

Michael McKenzie

Michael McKenzie is an international award-winning conductor and music educator, whose work centers around the power that choral music has to affect social change. They serve as a Managing Director of Voices for Social Justice, a national nonprofit organization whose work combines social activism with justice-centered artistic expression through performance, resources, and community collaboration. Outside of VFSJ, Michael serves as the Director of Music at Magnolia United Church of Christ. Most recently, they served as Director of the Bellevue Chamber Chorus during their gold medal winning performance at the 2024 World Choir Games in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Michael is currently pursuing their DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington School of Music. Prior to this, they graduated with an MM in Choral Conducting, with honors, from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University – Long Beach. There, Michael served as the director of ConChord, a student community chorus, and as a teaching assistant for the University Choir and Bob Cole Chamber Choir. For their Master's Recital, Michael earned honorable mention as a finalist for the American Prize's Dale Warland Award for Collegiate Choral Conductors. 

Michael was the Founder and Director of two Social Justice Choirs at Gustavus Adolphus College, and their performances earned them 2nd place in The American Prize for Choral Conducting - Community Division and an invitation to present a concert at The 2020 Nobel Conference. Michael graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, summa cum laude, in 2019 with a BA in Music Education and certification in K-12 Vocal, Instrumental, and Classroom music. Michael is a member of the Music Honors Society Pi Kappa Lambda and the Education Honors Society Kappa Delta Pi, and holds professional affiliations with the American Choral Director’s Association, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and the National Associate for Music Education.

Grad student Alexandra Rameau

Miami-born Alexandra Rameau is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Florida International University and has built a distinguished career in music education and choral performance. Before relocating to the Pacific Northwest, Rameau worked with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where she dedicated herself to fostering musical literacy among young learners while creating a nurturing, community-centered environment.

Rameau’s professional experience includes working with the Master Chorale of South Florida, a renowned symphony chorus that has performed a diverse repertoire ranging from Beethoven to Broadway, and Bach to Bernstein.

Guided by a strong teaching philosophy, Rameau believes in the transformative power of music education and performance. Her goal is to instill in her students not only technical proficiency but also the ability to convey a powerful musical message. As one of the co-directors of the University Singers, she brings an infectious passion for musical diversity and a spirit of joy to the ensemble, creating an atmosphere where every voice is heard and celebrated.

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